


Quarrels

by imtoolazytothinkofausername



Series: Medieval Au [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Forced Marriage, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:16:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22383184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imtoolazytothinkofausername/pseuds/imtoolazytothinkofausername
Summary: The road to Nurmengard is filled with strife.
Relationships: Original Percival Graves/Gellert Grindelwald
Series: Medieval Au [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608220
Kudos: 28





	Quarrels

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I don't own Fantastic Beasts, and I'm not writing this for profit.

Percival waits until they're on the road to try again. They've been traveling for a few days, and Grindelwald has given him more freedom than Percival had expected. There's always someone watching, but he hasn't been bound magically, and he's free to move around camp. 

Grindelwald hadn't done anything to punish Graves for his previous escape attempt. He'd expressed his understanding, following it up with a chastisement, but that had been it. That doesn't mean, though, that Grindelwald's good mood will last. Percival had known even when Grindelwald had first made the 'offer' for Percival's hand that he couldn't spend the rest of his life as Grindelwald's prisoner. Despite Grindelwald's assurances that he wouldn't hurt his 'darling,' Percival doesn't trusted that this grace period will last.

Two weeks into the marriage, Graves still hasn't changed his mind. Every time Grindelwald looks at him with his penetrating eyes, Graves can remember what it was like to stare into them, feeling his captor steal every memory and thought that Graves has ever had and being utterly defenseless. When Grindelwald makes some attempt to drape an arm over him or pull him into an embrace, Percival can remember the feel of Grindelwald's hands around his throat, the dungeon floor a cold resting place as Grindelwald punished Percival for managing to kill one of his guards. 

Once again, he waits until Gellert is asleep before getting up. This time Percival doesn't take anything. His only goal is to get far enough away from the anti-apparation jinx to disapparate. 

He doesn't even make it outside the tent before Grindelwald calls out, "Are you going to come back to bed, or do I need to get up?"

"I need to use the bathroom." Percival lies and keeps walking, not hesitating even when he hears Grindelwald get up go follow him.

"You should have woken me up. We're miles from any town. There are creatures-"

"Better them than you. Anyway, you're awake now. "

Grindelwald tuts. "Come now, that's not-"

"Turn around." Graves snaps waspishly; they're far enough into the woods that it's unlikely anyone will see. Grindelwald obeys without any objection, but Percival still turns the other way as he drops his pants. He can feel his cheeks burn with embarrassment, but he knows that he needs to carry through with it. Otherwise Grindelwald will know that he was lying. The man probably guesses as much already, but still. 

They don't speak again until they reach their tent.

"I'm not going to hurt you, darling." Grindelwald says, turning to Percival at the flap. "No matter how often you try to leave me. No one here will. The punishment for harming my husband is a long, painful death." He reaches out as if to run his hand through Percival's hair, but Graves brushes past him.

"You already have hurt me, Gellert." Percival says shortly, kicking his boots off. "I've still got the scars." 

"That was different!" Grindelwald replies earnestly, coming closer "You were my prisoner then. Now you're my husband. And if you take your shirt off, I can heal those."

"No." Percival snaps. He jerks away and stumbles against a chair. "I don't want you touching me."

"I didn't mean-"

"I don't care how you meant it." Percival snarls. "Stay the hell away from me."

Grindelwald has the audacity to look exasperated. "Come now, you're overreacting."

"Overreacting?" Percival is shouting now. "You...you tortured me! You kept me prisoner in my own home for over a year, and just when I'm starting to get my life back together you come back and make my life a living hell!"

"I did what I had to do." Grindelwald's voice holds only the slightest note of regret. "It was for the greater good. And I didn't want to hurt you. If you hadn't fought me-"

Graves's fist connecting with Grindelwald's jaw surprises even Percival. If he'd stopped to think about it, he wouldn't have done it. He would have waited until he had some advantage over the man. But Graves isn't thinking strategically. He's thinking about the feel of the whip across his back. About being forced to stand on the thinnest block of his parapet, feeling his legs ache as he struggled to keep his balance, being told that he can't come down until he lets Grindelwald into his mind. Of being kept awake for days until he was finally too weak to fight anymore. And all Percival wants is to cause Grindelwald even a fraction of the pain that the man's caused him.

It's not nearly enough, but Percival gets in more than a few blows before his arm is twisted behind his back and his face is pressed sideways into the ground.

Grindelwald waits until Graves stops thrashing to speak. "Are you finished?" He's breathing heavily. He takes Graves's stillness as an answer. "Good." 

And then Percival is shirtless. Panic starts to rise in him, and Graves tries to throw Grindelwald off, only to realize that he's no longer held down by the other man's weight but by magic.

"No-"

"Shhh..." Grindelwald whispers. Percival flinches as the other man runs a hand over his back, and then he feels a tingling sensation. "There. All healed now." And then Percival has his shirt back. "I'm going to let you up now; please don't try anything. I really don't want to fight you."

As soon as the spell lifts, Graves rolls away and stumbles to his feet, putting as much distance between himself and Grindelwald as possible. 

"You're right." Grindelwald is looking at him thoughtfully. "It is a bit much to expect you to put behind you. You deserve recompense."

"Give me an annulment and we'll call it even."

Grindelwald shakes his head. "I can't do that, Percival. I have my reasons. But a wedding present perhaps..."

……

Percival sleeps on furs on the floor that night, and the night after that. Grindelwald allows this, as if he knows he went too far, but on the third night, Grindelwald disassembles the cot that Percival’s made.

“You can’t sleep on the floor forever, pet.”

Percival considers doing so anyway despite the discomfort, but he’s not at all certain that Grindelwald wouldn’t scoop him up and carry him kicking and screaming to their makeshift bed. He’s not ready for another display of Grindelwald asserting his will over Graves’s body. Graves goes back to sleeping next to Grindelwald, always staying as far away from the man as possible, and despite obviously wanting a more intimate sleeping area, Grindelwald doesn’t reach for him.

Percival makes several other escape attempts during their journey. Not that he has much hope in succeeding, but he has no idea if he’ll have the opportunity to make any once they reach the place Grindelwald refers to as his new home. Some are more successful than others, but each time he’s caught. Sometimes by Grindelwald, other times by guards. But true to Grindelwald’s word, he’s never harmed. Within two weeks, though (their journey is hastened by magic), time runs out, and they reach Nurmengard. 


End file.
